NPR: Brian Naylor

After almost a decade spent reporting on Congress for NPR, Brian Naylor has turned his microphone toward the issues, people, and events of the Mid-Atlantic region. His coverage now encompasses developments in the area stretching from Pennsylvania through Virginia. In addition to his reports heard on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition, Naylor can be heard as a substitute host on NPR's newsmagazines.

As NPR's congressional correspondent, Naylor documented the first Republican majority in Congress in 40 years, and filed many reports chronicling the 73-member year freshman class who, according to Naylor, were the driving force behind the revolution. Naylor was elected to the Executive Committee of the Congressional Radio/TV Gallery in 1995. His congressional work earned national praise; Naylor's stories were among those that won NPR the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Journalism award presented for political reporting in 1996. Before becoming NPR's congressional correspondent, Naylor served as NPR's White House correspondent during the Reagan administration.

During his tenure at NPR, Naylor has also reported from abroad. He filed from London during the Gulf War and from Jerusalem in the aftermath of the Temple Mount shootings. He also covered the 1988 Olympics from Seoul. Naylor joined NPR in 1982 as a newscaster for All Things Considered. Before coming to NPR, Naylor served from 1979 to 1982 as State House/political reporter and anchor for WOSU-FM in Columbus, Ohio. Naylor has also worked at radio stations in Maine.

A native of Pound Ridge, NY, Naylor graduated from the University of Maine in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in broadcasting/film.

5:09am

Around the Nation

An air traffic controller monitors flights in July at the Denver International Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration is planning to modernize its traffic control system, but has faced a number of obstacles.

John MooreGetty Images

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2:59

The government is trying to modernize the nation's air traffic control system, but cost overruns, software problems and management concerns are making some wonder whether the so-called "Next Generation" system may take another generation to complete.

The radar screens in the nation's aircraft control towers are based on technology dating to World War II. Many of the routes airliners fly were laid out at a time pilots followed bonfires for navigation at night.

12:01am

Politics

Last summer, immigration rights activists in Los Angeles gathered for a rally calling on the government to act on immigration overhaul legislation. Strong Latino support helped President Obama win in 2008, but his support among those voters is slipping.

Mark RalstonAFP/Getty Images

President Obama came into office with strong Latino support, having won two-thirds of the Latino vote, according to exit polls. But for some, that support has turned to disillusionment.

"There's a deep sense of betrayal and disappointment towards the Obama administration," said Sarahi Uribe, coordinator of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

12:41am

Politics

Voters in West Virginia will choose the state's next governor on Tuesday, in a special election to finish the term of Democrat Joe Manchin. The popular former governor left office after being elected to the U.S. Senate last November.

On the ballot are the man who has been acting governor, Democratic state Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, and GOP businessman Bill Maloney.

But Republicans are trying to make the race a referendum on someone not on the ballot: President Obama.

3:00pm

Politics

A resident speaks to a Federal Emergency Management Agency agent atop his destroyed house in the devastated town of Hueytown, Ala., on May 1. FEMA will run out of money to help disaster victims by early next week unless Congress acts.

Nicholas KammAFP/Getty Images

Congress is at odds over a measure needed to keep the government operating past the end of the month.

While lawmakers have a week to work out their differences before the government faces another partial shutdown, one agency faces a much earlier deadline.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will run out of money early next week, putting a halt to projects in communities around the country still struggling to recover from this year's spate of hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires.

1:38pm

Around the Nation

Cities across the country are investing more money in infrastructure to make roads safer for bikes. Last week, a highway bill faced resistance from lawmakers who saw those kinds of projects as an inappropriate use of federal funds.

Chip SomodevillaGetty Images

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4:28

The corner of 15th and K streets in Washington, D.C., is busy. Buses, trucks, cars and taxis zip by. There are pedestrians and, increasingly, bikes.

Some 57 million adults ride bicycles in the U.S., whether for commuting or exercise or fun. Cities are adding bike lanes with the help of a federal program that gets its money from the highway bill. Some Senate Republicans tried — and ultimately failed — to block funding for that program, which also pays for sidewalks and other pedestrian improvements.

6:01am

Reflecting On Sept. 11, 2001

The Department of Homeland Security and state governments spend billions of dollars every year on domestic security, helping cities and counties buy up-to-date equipment and strategies for defeating terrorists.

Established in November 2002, the new department absorbed 22 different federal agencies, with the idea of unifying homeland security efforts. But after all this time, have those efforts made us safer?

6:03am

Reflecting On Sept. 11, 2001

At the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, a small temporary exhibit marks Sept. 11, 2001. Along with artifacts found in the wreckage of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon — like a smashed firetruck door and twisted bits of fuselage — is a bin filled with every imaginable object people have tried to carry on airplanes.

8:00am

Politics

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin offered her supporters no hint of her political plans during a speech Saturday at a Tea Party rally in Iowa.

The atmosphere was that of an end-of-summer county fair. There was plenty of food, lots of T-shirts for sale even some country music. But for the 2,000 or so people gathered on a soggy field in Indianola, south of Des Moines, Palin was the main attraction. It wasnt her first visit to Iowa, home of the nation's first presidential caucus next year.

12:01am

Hurricane Irene Hits East Coast

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, shown at a press briefing last week in Washington, says his agency will postpone some repair work on earlier disasters in order to pay for the immediate needs of Irene.

Paul J. Richards AFP/Getty Images

From washed-away roads in North Carolina to historic bridges flooded out in Vermont, Hurricane Irene took its toll up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

But the East is not the only region to suffer from natural disasters this year. There was a string of deadly tornadoes in the South this spring, floods along the Mississippi and in the Upper Midwest, and last May's devastating tornado in Joplin, Mo.

12:26pm

U.S.

Passengers wait in line at the United Airlines terminal at Chicago's O'Hare airport in 2009 after a computer malfunction caused long delays and the cancellation of some United flights.

Scott OlsonGetty Images

Anyone who flies on an airplane should like some new government regulations that took effect Tuesday. Passengers who get involuntarily bumped will be entitled to more compensation, and airlines face stiffer penalties for long tarmac delays on international flights.

The new rules are aimed at making flying more convenient and hassle-free, according to the Department of Transportation. Secretary Ray LaHood says the new passenger protections will "help ensure that air travelers receive the respect they deserve before, during and after their flight."

4:00am

U.S.

Congress and the Obama administration found a way out of the stalemate that forced a partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration. The temporary fix means a return to work for thousands of FAA workers and contractors idled by the shutdown. But the underlying issues that prevented agreement on a multi-year FAA bill remain unresolved.

10:38am

Economy

A provision attached to a Federal Aviation Administration budget extension would cut subsidies for flights to rural airports. Among the airports that could be affected is one in Ely, Nev., home state of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Chip SomodevillaGetty Images

There are two main issues dividing Republicans and Democrats, and the House and Senate, from reaching agreement on reauthorizing funding for the Federal Aviation Administration: a policy on forming unions and subsidized flights at smaller regional airports.

10:58am

Economy

A partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration, prompted by a political dispute, is adding to the country's debt. This month alone, that shutdown will cost the Treasury $1 billion in uncollected airline ticket taxes.

The shutdown is happening because of a labor dispute, a long-standing rivalry and a disagreement over subsidizing small airports. It's not clear when it will all be resolved now that members of Congress are leaving Washington, D.C., for their summer recess.

4:52am

Politics

The debt-ceiling debate in Washington is being watched closely in state capitals, as a U.S. default, or a lowering of the country's bond rating, will have a ripple effect in states and communities across the nation.

In states and localities, the sometimes-abstract debate in Washington over the debt ceiling hits closer to home. Although almost every state must balance their budgets, they also rely on borrowing — selling bonds to investors for everything from meeting day-to-day cash-flow needs to funding major capital improvements.

12:38pm

National Security

The new Automated Target Recognition software eliminates passenger-specific images and replaces them with generic outlines.

Courtesy of Transportation Security Administration

Beginning in 2007, full-body scanners were installed at the nation's airports to address concerns that terrorists could smuggle explosives hidden in their clothing — or, in one infamous case, their underwear — that wouldn't be picked up by standard metal detectors.

The scanners produced a fairly detailed image of a traveler's body, which was viewed on monitors by TSA screeners in a separate room.

1:36pm

Politics

Pedestrians stop to view the National Debt Clock in New York this April. The debt ceiling is becoming an election issue, as groups on both sides spend millions on TV ads.

Andrew HarrerBloomberg via Getty Images

The debate over raising the debt ceiling has largely taken place in the halls of Congress and the White House briefing room. But there is another front in the battle — a war on the air. Advocacy groups from each side of the issue are spending millions on commercials.

4:33pm

Around the Nation

Firefighters in the nation's capital (shown near the White House in 2004), have some fairly sophisticated communications devices. But those devices use the same commercial networks as D.C.-area residents. In an emergency, those networks can get crowded.

Brendan SmialowskiGetty Images

After Sept. 11, there were widespread reports that public safety agencies responding to the attacks on the World Trade Center had trouble talking to one another. The problem: incompatible radios.

It was a common challenge among public service agencies nationwide. Different first responders had different radios operating on different frequencies. Billions of dollars later, federal, state and local governments have largely solved that challenge.

But many first responders still lack access to the kind of technology that many Americans carry on their waistbands or bags.

6:12pm

Around the Nation

Kimmy Lankford and her 5-year-old son, Jack, walk through their neighborhood Wednesday after a massive tornado passed through the town. The Lankfords continue to live in their home a few blocks away, which was damaged but remains habitable.

Mario TamaGetty Images

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4:00

This spring, tornadoes in the Midwest and the Southeast plus flooding along the Mississippi River are adding up to major expenses for the federal government, which is asked to provide emergency aid to states and localities.

On Tuesday, a House panel voted to put another $1 billion into a disaster assistance fund — and that may be just the start.

An Emergency Infusion Of Cash, Again

As rescuers continue their search for survivors, a different kind of accounting is going on in Washington.

2:43pm

Japan In Crisis

The Japan Animal Rescue shelter in Samukawa houses about 200 dogs and cats, most of them brought in from the now off-limits area around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

Brian NaylorNPR

In addition to the tens of thousands of people displaced by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and subsequent radiation leak in Japan, tens of thousands of pets are also homeless.

Many have been taken in by animal rescue groups — some of which sneaked into the exclusion zone surrounding the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant to remove animals found wandering the streets and houses.

4:21pm

Japan In Crisis

A man holds a placard during a march denouncing the use of nuclear plants and power during a demonstration in Tokyo on May 1.

Toru Yamanaka AFP/Getty Images

Japan is reassessing how it produces electricity after March's earthquake and tsunami sparked a crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan this week persuaded the operators of another nuclear plant west of Tokyo to temporarily close it to make safety improvements. And he is canceling a plan to build more nuclear facilities.

12:01am

The Spark

Then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich holds up a copy of the Republican Party's "Contract with America" during a rally to celebrate the first 50 days of the Republican majority in Congress in 1995.

Joshua RobertsAFP/Getty Images

NPR has been profiling some of the Republicans who are considering a presidential run in 2012, to find out what first sparked their interest in politics. Read more of those profiles.

When you ask many politicians what inspired them to a life of public service, you often hear familiar words about a commitment to helping people, or perhaps a desire to run government more like a business.

4:00am

Asia

The government of Japan says it will take three years to clean up the debris left behind by the giant tsunami that washed over that country's northeast coast in March. An estimated 130,000 people either had their homes destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami, or were evacuated because of the radiation leaks at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Officials are struggling to build them temporary housing, in areas where there is little vacant land.

4:58pm

The BP Oil Spill, One Year Later

A year ago Wednesday, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, killing 11 workers and setting off a massive spill that sent millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf.

The disaster focused a spotlight on government oversight of offshore drilling, which was generally found to be inadequate. The Obama administration responded by creating a new agency to regulate offshore drilling.

3:28am

Around the Nation

Federal Aviation Administration chief Randy Babbitt is visiting air traffic control facilities across the country this week, meeting with controllers about an issue that has gotten the agency a lot of unwanted publicity lately: sleeping on the job.

At least a half-dozen controllers have been reported nodding off in recent weeks. Babbitt says that won't be tolerated, but controllers say it's a common problem with no easy answer.

4:00am

Politics

In Washington, D.C., and at federal agencies across the country, the big question employees are asking on the eve of a possible government shutdown is: Am I essential or not? Workers and agencies that are deemed essential will be kept on the job if a shutdown occurs.